Private Ripple Effect

[Oryn Selvar]

Tag: Isur
​

The Wayfinder had once served as a customs patrol corvette along the ragged trade lanes of the Mid Rim, though little of her original shine remained. At just under a hundred meters from bow to engine block, she carried herself with the weary posture of a ship that had survived too many decades and too many owners.

The corridors were narrow and the ceilings low, but every meter of the ship was cared for with stubborn pride. The technology was old, but well mainteined. Nothing aboard the Wayfinder was luxurious, yet everything worked because the people aboard refused to let it fail.

The ship had a reputation: though she might arrive late, she always arrived in the end. This time, the Wayfinder even held the presence of a Jedi. What could possibly go wrong?

Said Jedi, one Padawan Oryn Selvar, sat cross-legged in deep meditation within his humble quarters. The ship was transporting valuable medical supplies and foodstuffs to the oceanic world of Aguarl, though Oryn suspected there was some secret cargo of value as well. If the captain was smuggling something, he hadn't been able to get it out of him.

Then there was Safira, of course. Daughter of some noble, or senator, or whatever. Oryn's main mission lay on Aguarl, however, knocking out two birds with one stone, he'd been sent to ensure the safe passage of the supplies as well as the protection of Safira.

That, and it was way cheaper to send him on the Wayfinder instead of giving him a ship of his own. The Council probably didn't trust him with that anyway.

A mechanic droll broke through on his room's comms. "Padawan Selvar to the bridge." Of course. He had just left. What was it now? "I'll be right-" "Padawan Selvar to the bridge." Of course. The line was only open one way. Oh well. Best get going.

 

[Isur]

After the public collapse of the Black Sun, Isur went to ground for a bit. Call it a vacation. He bounced from worlds to worlds, mostly aquatic, living large off of the credits he received. Purchasing his own ship, not much but a Corellian Corvette Assassin build. Fast, sleek, with guns to disable and the ability to survive close quarters and physical strikes with other ships.

Made a great ship.

The Snapjaw, he called it. Not exactly the scariest name, but the fact that half the guns were tractor beams, to hold a ship? Made some sense.

Now, with his vacation over, it was time to get back to work. Some of Delphos’, his former Herglic captain, crew remained with him, but the ones that came in under the Black Sun? They were flying the flag of the Snapjaw.

“Sir, target acquired.” Said one of the other Karkarodons aboard. The ship was primarily them and Quarrens. Simple, easy. Isur grinned and nodded.

The hologram of the Wayfinder came up. “Good. good. Fire a warning shot off the bow. Prepare the boarding harpoons.”

Wreck Punk started playing over the ship’s intercom as it sped up, ion cannon shots glancing towards the Wayfinder. They could just hope this was the right vessel.

"Power down your engines. This is your only warning." Said the transmitted hologram of a Karkarodon carrying a large wan-shen.

Oryn Selvar

 

[Oryn Selvar]

​

Oryn was halfway to the bridge when alarms started blaring. His lazy trot turned into a sprint. What was going on?

The Captain of the Wayfinder looked out the bridge's viewport with gritted teeth. "Bloody pirates!" he cursed. "Send a distress signal to the High Republic Navy." they were going to need it.

I won't let them have my ship, the Captain thought to himself. More importantly, he was transporting precious cargo, and if it fell into enemy hands, he'd be chewed out... Of course, if he resisted and the pirates decided to blast him and his ship to pieces, well... He was caught between a rock and a hard place. One thing was certain, he wasn't going to outrun them.

"Fire a warning shot of our own. Show them we won't go meekly-" "Captain, our gun batteries are forward facing-" "I KNOW THAT! Fire the little one. And bring us about."

A small gun turret fired off warning shots at the pursuing ship in return. Their only rear-facing weapon. Then their engines seemingly powered down, only to shift as the Wayfinder started maneuvering to come about and face towards the Snapjaw. If they were going to bite back, this would be their only chance.

"This is the Captain of the Wayfinder. This is a fight you do not want to take. Jump back to hyperspace before we blow you to smithereens. This is a High Republic war ship" a stretch, to be sure. "Even if you take us, which you won't, you'll have the Republic's navy on your tails. Change course, sir, before you make your final mistake."

Isur ​

 

[Isur]

The music was kicking up as the ship sped forward. Isur wished he had his blastboats within a jump but they were out doing a supply run. So it meant that the Snapjaw was going to have to do the heavy fighting until the shuttles could board the vessel.

Isur saw the shield flare as the turret hit his shields and the Karkarodon grinned, wide and toothy.

“They’re coming about, Captain.” Said one of the crew members, a Quarren, announced.

“Ready the guns.” Isur ordered as the Republic captain ordered him to turn around.

“Come, little one. You have no idea what we are capable of. This vessel is not one of yours of the line.” He was buying time as his firing and shield teams were prepping. Finding locks.

“We’re pirates.”

And then the volley came.

Oryn Selvar

 

[Oryn Selvar]

​

They called the bluff. Kriff. To call the Wayfinder a war ship was a generous stretch.

"Get me a firing solution on those bloody pirates!" "Captain, their current trajectory-" "I see it"

It was plaine as day. They needed to come about to get full use of their forward-facing weaponry. The pirates trailing them, however, were juuust fast enough to stay clear. Who knew how long they could keep this dance up, but the outcome was clear.

The volley came. The ship shook as their shields were taken to task. "Report" "No damage, but our shields are down to 60%".

"Return fire" the Captain exchanged looks with his bridge crew. They knew not all guns had a lock on the enemy, but this was about as good as it was going to get. Their rotational rear-turret fired a few inconsequential rounds. Whatever guns were placed starboard side could just about get a view of the target, and they fired as well. But it was much too little.

It was about that moment that the Nautolan Padawan burst onto the bridge. He'd realized they were under attack, but it was only now dawning on him just how much trouble they were in.

"What's going on?"

The Captain took a deep breath, once more examening his bridge crew and the Jedi. Finally, he said "We are about to be boarded. Everyone to their stations." And time to see what Jedi protection was worth

Isur​

 

[Isur]

Yo ho, yo ho.

Isur could only be so excited for some pirating. He had to make credits for his crew. Respectable now, was what he was. The Matukai Karkarodon had some limited use of the Force, but really it was to make his fighting… stronger. Everything he did was to make it so he could survive. So he could fight. And so he could keep free.

Employment was one thing, but employment to the wrong people? That was worse than death. Working the Black Sun angle was free, and it allowed him to free others. As the locks beeped, the Karkarodon grabbed his wan-shen from one of his IG units that quickly switched to its blaster rifle. A grunt and the two droids flanked him as he lumbered to one of the remaining shuttle craft.

Stepping aboard, it launched.

“Take us into the hangar.” He growled at his pilot.

Oryn Selvar

 

[Oryn Selvar]

​

Oryn's hearts pounded in his chest. There were no more training ground drills now. This was real.

What military personell the ship had moved into position. Oryn even saw some people he knew were engineers running around with a blaster rifle.

He'd been comissioned a training saber, as he had yet to make one of his own. He wasn't sure how much damage he could do with that… Maybe that was a good thing. The Padawan held out hope that it might not turn to violence, although diplomacy looked like it was over.

How much of this pirate encounter was random? Were they specifically targetted? And where was that Safira?

Oryn would be there when the pirates broke through. Be the Wayfinder's shield, do what he could. He could only hope the Republic would send someone before it was too late.

Isur​

 

[Isur]

He had fought Jedi. They did not bother him. Was it his first as a captain? Yes. But with Delphos and the Black Sun having been at his back, he found himself in conflict with many who used the lightsaber. That was why his own wan-shen was reinforced with some cortosis. Rare, but it did the job of stunning a lightsaber when he swung it. Plus it took a lot to get through the flesh of a karkarodon.

He had the scars on his arms and face to prove it.

Pay no attention to the chunk out of his dorsal fin.

Laser cannons of the shuttles were firing in conjunction with the Snapjaw as they were finding purchase to land, one, two, and finally the third shuttle, with Isur himself.

The ramp opened and he followed his team out, their blasters at the ready.

"To the bridge." He said, calm, collected. Eerily so.

Oryn Selvar

 

[Oryn Selvar]

​

Oryn and a group of the Wayfinder's crew came upon a group of pirates trying to board. "Stop! In the name of the High Republic, lay-" the rest of Oryn's words were drowned by the sounds of blasters firing both sides. Who had fired the first shot he couldn't say. "Kriff" he cursed, and ignited a green saber.

"No! Wait - surrender!" he said with seeming little effect as he did his best to take up a position, deflecting bolts this way and that. He did not have this situation under control. Not in the slightest.

When the captain had called this a warship, that had been a slight exaggeration. They were members of the navy, but not of the kind used to serving on the front lines. Though they'd held their own well enough in a scrap before, the pirates they faced now appeared to have been through a scrap or two themselves... "Fall back! To the bridge! Seal this hallway shut" he heard someone say.

"Kriffin feth" Oryn hissed, as he stepped back, trying to make himself big, and cover the retreat of his group.

Isur​

 

[Isur]

The High Republic. If Isur could grin, he would be. One of those dark grins, with the glint in his eye. They had hit a bit target. It meant they’d get a target on their backs, but that did not bother him. They were pirates, after all. As the blaster fire erupted, there was an electric feel in the Force, survival, fear, dedication. Desire.

Violence.

All that fueled him.

The green blade went up and Isur knew what he was against, a Jedi.

“Jedi!” He growled, accusingly. His voice a little enhanced by the Force, just enough to send shivers through the steel walls of the hallway.

“No prisoners.” Another calm order from Isur as he spun the wan-shen around. There was excitement in the chance to fight a Jedi. Isur may have age on his side, but his Force training was definitely more pirate-adjacent than someone who sat in the halls of the Jedi.

Several of his crew broke off, some covering them against the Wayfinder’s crew, as they went down halls, searching, seeking the treasure and what they could steal to sell. Reaching forward, Isur formed a fist and crushed the doorway, not in a sealed-shut way, but in a way that would properly mess the door’s mechanism.

“Willing to die for these people, Jedi?”

The honest truth, Isur had no desire to take prisoners.

Oryn Selvar